Cochlear Implant Processor Replacement Cost: Medicare Amounts by State

What Medicare lists for a replacement processor

The CMS DMEPOS fee schedule effective October 1, 2026 prices a replacement processor under two codes. The labels show the difference: one includes the controller, the other does not.

• L8619, "Cochlear implant, external speech processor and controller, integrated system, replacement": $9,873.11 to $10,367.03, depending on the state.
• L8627, "Cochlear implant, external speech processor, component, replacement": $8,288.20 to $8,805.87.

Four states show how the amounts move. For L8619: $10,367.03 in California, $10,172.28 in Texas, $10,071.29 in New York and $10,053.97 in Florida. For L8627, the same states list $8,805.87, $8,640.87, $8,584.50 and $8,522.43.

Each figure is a published fee schedule amount for that state. It is not a retail price, and a code's presence in the file does not settle whether a given claim is covered.

Controller, batteries and charger have their own codes

The parts a processor runs on are listed separately, each under its official CMS label:

• L8628, "Cochlear implant, external controller component, replacement": $1,486.78 to $1,584.91.
• L8624, "Lithium ion battery for use with cochlear implant or auditory osseointegrated device speech processor, ear level, replacement, each": $193.82 to $201.11.
• L8623, "Lithium ion battery for use with cochlear implant device speech processor, other than ear level, replacement, each": $77.75 to $80.70.
• L8625, "External recharging system for battery for use with cochlear implant or auditory osseointegrated device, replacement only, each": $226.97 to $235.58.
• L8621, "Zinc air battery for use with cochlear implant device and auditory osseointegrated sound processors, replacement, each": $0.75 to $0.79.
• L8622, "Alkaline battery for use with cochlear implant device, any size, replacement, each": $0.39 to $0.40.

The battery labels end in "each", so the amount applies to one battery. The labels of L8621, L8624 and L8625 also name auditory osseointegrated devices, which is why those codes appear on bone-anchored systems too.

Headpiece, microphone, coil and cable: codes L8615 to L8618

The parts that link the processor to the implant have four codes of their own in the same October 2026 file. Each range runs from the lowest to the highest non-rural amount among the states with a published fee:

• L8615, "Headset/headpiece for use with cochlear implant device, replacement": $542.05 to $562.60.
• L8616, "Microphone for use with cochlear implant device, replacement": $126.26 to $131.00.
• L8617, "Transmitting coil for use with cochlear implant device, replacement": $110.27 to $114.43.
• L8618, "Transmitter cable for use with cochlear implant device or auditory osseointegrated device, replacement": $31.50 to $32.70.

California sits at the low end of each range and Colorado at the high end. The L8618 label also names auditory osseointegrated devices, so the cable code is not limited to cochlear implants. As with the processor codes, these are fee schedule amounts, not retail prices for the parts.

How to read the state table

Every amount in the table comes from the non-rural (NR) column of the October 2026 file, and the modifier fields of these rows are blank in the source. A state appears for a code only when the file publishes a non-zero amount for it.

That explains the gaps. L8627 and L8628 have rows for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; L8619 has none there. A missing row means no published amount, not a free device. A code that the October 2026 file does not list has no row either, and the table does not fill it in.

When Medicare pays for a replacement: Palmetto GBA's article

Palmetto GBA's billing and coding Article A53708 in the Medicare Coverage Database, active revision effective November 7, 2019, sets the replacement rule for the Part B claims Palmetto GBA handles. It is the Part B billing article of one A/B MAC, Palmetto GBA, for Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia: not a national coverage determination, and not binding on other Medicare contractors, including the DME MACs that pay supplier claims.

The article sets three conditions:

1. A 5-year payment threshold. "The reasonable useful life of a sound processor is not less than 5 years." This is a reimbursement rule. It does not measure how long a processor keeps working.
2. No early upgrades. Replacing or upgrading a working implant or component before it reaches its reasonable useful life is not covered by Palmetto GBA. The article's examples are a move to a next-generation, smaller external component and a switch from a body-worn processor to a behind-the-ear model, which it treats as convenience.
3. A physician's certification. Replacing a working component is covered only when a physician certifies that it is ineffective to the point of interfering with the activities of daily living, that a change in the patient's medical condition calls for a different type of component, or that the component has reached its reasonable useful life.

Related pages

This page covers the external parts. Implant surgery and its facility rates are on cochlear implant cost, and Part B cost sharing for implants is on does Medicare cover cochlear implants. Bone-anchored systems, which share some battery and charger codes, are on BAHA hearing aids.